The morning of October first dawned cool and clear with just frost enough in the air to make everyone feel as fit as a fighting cock. As early as seven o’clock carriage loads of people passed my house from the neighboring villages. Old men and young came, women and children, glad of an excuse no matter how slight to journey to a common meeting place and see and be seen. They came from as far away as twenty miles and people who had not met for ten years took this opportunity to visit with one another. Former residents, friends of present residents and total strangers poured into town, obeying the instinct to herd together for a day. The whole village kept open house and so far as it was possible we tried to have everything free--to act as a town as hosts. I for my part extended a general invitation to the gang and all my old friends from Little Italy and spread a big table in the barn for them because there wasn’t room in the house. As many as seventy-five women and children came in the afternoon, while that evening about the whole gang came along. They pretty nearly ate us out of house and home but I had a big bonfire built in the yard and in this they roasted apples and potatoes when everything else was gone. The prize award was set for eleven o’clock and for an hour before the band gave a concert. At the conclusion of this I estimated that fully nine hundred people were gathered around the band stand. It was as intense and excited a gathering as you ever saw. Not an inkling of who had won the prizes leaked out although in most cases the general discussion and known facts had narrowed the possibilities down to a half dozen in each class. I myself didn’t know the winners except in the cases where I acted as judge. When the band finished its programme with “America” and Holt and the committee and the judges from the Agricultural School who were present as guests, and myself stepped to the platform you could have heard a pin drop. As president of the club it was my duty to make a brief speech and in this I outlined for the benefit of strangers present the object of the club, the money that had been offered, what had been accomplished and on what basis the awards were to be made. “It seems to me,” I said at the end, “that every man and woman and boy who is a member of this club ought to feel that he has won something whether he draws a money prize or not.” This was greeted with noisy cheering which it did my heart good to hear.